Chapter 21

"Hm?"

Shi Changyuan looked at Lin Ling's embarrassed, angry expression and recalled his earlier struggle. He seemed to understand something and smiled. "Afraid of water?"

"Not at all." Lin Ling was stubborn to the extreme. "It's just that mushrooms haven't seen water that deep."

Shi Changyuan gave a soft laugh and did not expose him.

Lin Ling felt that he had been mocked, but there was nothing he could say. He could only pretend to be an angry mushroom and let the wicked human guess.

"Don't be angry, Ling Ling." Shi Changyuan carried Lin Ling to the shallow water. Lin Ling sat on a rock, with the water reaching just to his chest.

Lin Ling gave a quiet huff. Clearly, he had two or three seconds of wicked thoughts too, waiting for Shi Changyuan to take the initiative and offer him a way out.

"What does Ling Ling want me to do, then?" Shi Changyuan asked directly.

Lin Ling glanced at Shi Changyuan, huffed again, and hesitantly asked, "I... want to know how you got this scar."

"Is that alright?"

Lin Ling pointed at the first one he had noticed, the largest and deepest scar on Shi Changyuan's chest. It extended from beneath his left collarbone toward his heart, disappearing beneath his robe.

Shi Changyuan saw how cautious Lin Ling was, as though afraid he had brought up some unspeakable trauma.

Shi Changyuan raised his brows slightly, amusement in his eyes. "It's possible, but..."

"Ling Ling has to tell me why he wants to know."

"Ah..." Lin Ling was stumped at once. He did not seem to know himself, but after honestly thinking for a while, he gave an answer. "Maybe because I want to know."

"I want to understand you more and more."

The moment Shi Changyuan heard those words, his heartstrings were plucked.

Once again, he was certain that Lin Ling seemed to like him too.

It was only that this affection was still hazy, and he did not know how much weight it carried.

Shi Changyuan lowered his eyes, concealing the emotions that were nearly surging forth, and said simply, "The night before I ascended the throne, someone tried to assassinate me."

Lin Ling's eyes widened at once, and he thought of the spy he had stumbled across before.

"Then... what about this one?" Lin Ling pointed at the wound on Shi Changyuan's shoulder.

"I don't remember which country it was. I was hit by an arrow while storming a city."

Lin Ling pulled open Shi Changyuan's already loose robes and pointed at the wound on his abdomen. This scar looked like the deepest and oldest one. "What about this?"

"When I was a hostage before, I stabbed myself to fake my death and escape."

Every battle Shi Changyuan mentioned could be linked, in Lin Ling's mind, to the protagonist—the overlord of the world—in Liu Xiangyu's storybooks.

But what Liu Xiangyu emphasized, what was recorded in books, and what others praised were all things of glory and victory.

Yet some of these scars were ones even Shi Changyuan himself could no longer remember.

Just as Lin Ling's nose began to sting, Shi Changyuan spoke beside him. "Ling Ling pulled open my clothes. Aren't you going to take responsibility for putting them back on?"

Lin Ling: ?!!

Turning bright red again, Lin Ling hurriedly pulled Shi Changyuan's clothes back into place and wrapped him up tightly.

Shi Changyuan looked at Lin Ling, whose earlobes were red enough to drip blood, and felt somewhat regretful. He had not even begun teasing the mushroom, yet the mushroom already looked as though he was about to be cooked.

He wondered whether there would be another chance...

Afraid that soaking too long would leave him weak, Shi Changyuan summoned someone not long after and had them bring other small blankets.

Seeing this, Lin Ling immediately stood up and climbed toward the shore. His wet inner robe clung to his body, and Shi Changyuan's gaze flickered before falling below his waist.

Shi Changyuan swiftly grabbed a blanket, stepped forward, and wrapped Lin Ling up in it.

Lin Ling turned his head in confusion, but Shi Changyuan said nothing and merely steadied him.

After Lin Ling safely reached the shore, he turned back to Shi Changyuan and urged, "Why aren't you coming up?"

"I'll stay a little longer." Shi Changyuan remained composed. "Go get dressed first."

Lin Ling suddenly understood. So Shi Changyuan was shy, just like him!

The two stayed at the imperial villa for one night. The next day, Lin Ling got up early with Shi Changyuan and accompanied him to the Golden Luan Hall for morning court.

While Shi Changyuan attended court, Lin Ling waited patiently in the side hall. As he waited, he even fell asleep.

The civil and military officials throughout the court were surprised to discover that His Majesty seemed exceptionally gentle today, as though afraid of frightening the figure behind the screen and curtain.

After true winter arrived, Lin Ling was hardly awake at all.

He was awake for only about two hours each day. Sometimes he woke once every three days to have dinner with Shi Changyuan; sometimes he woke in the middle of the night, and Shi Changyuan would take him to watch fireworks and release lanterns.

When the snow began to melt, Lin Ling was still dreaming when he suddenly heard a group of little creatures chattering away.

"Heavens, there's a Mushroom Spirit who has already cultivated sentience here! He's actually hibernating on the emperor's dragon bed!"

"Why is he still sleeping? Everyone is about to head to the Dragon Vein to cultivate. Doesn't he plan to grab a good spot?"

"How about we wake him up? He's the prettiest Mushroom Spirit I've ever seen."

"Oh no, the emperor is here! Hide, hide!"

Those sharp, tiny voices were unbearably noisy. Lin Ling immediately opened his eyes and complained, "So loud. Get out!"

Shi Changyuan, who had just entered the bedchamber and suffered an undeserved attack: "...Hm?"

Chapter 21

"Ling Ling?" Seeing that Lin Ling had awakened, Shi Changyuan hurried over.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

Realizing he had attacked the wrong person, Lin Ling blinked guiltily. "Ah, no..."

Lin Ling was fully awake now. Recalling what had happened in the dream, he explained, "I think I dreamed of some chattering little spirits. But I wanted to sleep, and they seemed determined to wake me up."

"It wasn't a dream."

That tiny voice came again, but it seemed that only Lin Ling could hear it.